Lena Higgins wasn’t quite sure why Zarah had insisted on waking her up in the middle of the night to make a portal to the Ghostlands, but she could take a guess that it had to do with Hethurin or Vaildor. She had never actually been to the Ghostlands in this reality, but she had been there in alternate timelines. She had also seen the current Ghostlands in visions during her practice. She felt confident that she could place a portal near the town. She tossed her cloak on her back, and cast the spell.

It worked perfectly, which was surprising to Lena, given she only had a few short moments to prepare. Lena pulled her hood up as she hurried after Zarah, who was already making her way down the main street of the town. The street was empty at this hour, only a sleepy guard sat at one of the buildings near the other end of the street. Zarah and Lena both did their best to be quiet and not attract his attention as they approached one of the newer buildings. Lena followed Zarah as she made her way along the side of it and peeked into one of the windows.

“Look, there.”

Lena double checked to make sure no one was watching them before she peeked through the window. In the center of the room was an open portal. Two elves were also in the room. She recognized one of them as Vaildor. She assumed the older one was his adoptive father.

“I need you to make a portal out here that lands directly on top of the portal in there. They don’t need to know we’re passing through.”

Lena nodded and cast the spell.

“Be ready. We’re dealing with Sanimir.” Zarah said, just before disappearing through the portal. Lena followed her.

Night changed to day. It was a dark, and rainy day, but day all the same. The wind blew back her hood and whipped through Lena’s brown hair, and rain pelted her face. The town was gone. Instead they stood along the shoreline, but Lena felt they were still in the Ghostlands. However, her location was not her greatest concern at the time. Between her and the waves crashing against the shore, a battle was underway. A lone mage juggled fending off the attacks of a dragon and an elf, and making his own attacks.

Zaradormi wasted no time joining the fight, shifting into her true form and charging in. The mage had just knocked the elf down with a spell and was facing the other dragon as he cast another spell. He wasn’t able to finish as Zaradormi breathed a gout of hot sand towards him. Lena began to cast her own spell as he teleported further away. She needed him to hold still long enough to silence him. She hurried closer, the wet sand on the beach slowing her run to more of a trot. The other elf, clad in plate armor, was back on his feet. The other dragon lifted from the ground, beating his wings to carry him faster towards Sanimir’s location. Zaradormi was ahead of him, reaching the rogue mage first. She swiped at him with one of her front claws, but he managed to avoid it by throwing himself to the ground. The other dragon took the opportunity to attack with his hot sand breath, but again Sanimir teleported to safety. Lena noted it was a shorter distance. He was tiring, but that wasn’t all. He was also getting careless as he had teleported closer to her. She cast a spell, sending a bolt of frost his direction. It hit his shoulder. He spun around to face her, but only briefly. He frantically looked around while gripping his shoulder with one hand. She began to cast another spell, as Zaradormi flew in close again.

The rogue mage whispered another spell and disappeared. Lena knew it wasn’t a teleport. He was still here, shrouded in invisibility. Zaradormi must have guessed as well, as she blanketed the area with a blast of her sand breath. Sanimir’s invisibility dropped as he came out coughing and covering his face. Lena hit him with another bolt of frost, this time hitting his knee. At the same time, the plate clad elf slammed into him, knocking him down. The armored elf stood over the mage, his sword to his neck. Lena quickly cast her silencing spell, making sure Sanimir wouldn’t be casting anymore spells while she got the arcane shackles out of her pack.

Zaradormi landed close by, along with the other dragon. They both shifted into their humanoid forms. The armored elf ran off towards Hethurin, shifting his shield to his other hand as soon as Lena got the shackles on Sanimir.

Zarah grabbed one of his arms while Lena held the other. He squirmed, but they both held tight. She spoke to the other dragon, now in elf form, “We’ll take him back with us to Stormwind, and hold him there until one of the Blue Flight can retrieve him.” Sanimir weakly struggled again after she spoke, not enough to break free of either of them.

The other dragon nodded, “I appreciate it. I don’t think the school is set up to hold prisoners, nor do I think my timewalker is in any shape to keep him silenced. I should get him home so he can have his injuries tended to.”

Zarah looked at Lena as the other dragon walked towards the elves. “Open the portal. We’ll make sure he’s secured. I’ll take first watch while you get some sleep. You did very well today.”

“Thanks. Do the others need help getting back to their home?” Lena asked before making their own portal.

“No, his timewalker’s apprentice can handle it. She was hidden the whole time.”

Lena glanced at the elves, noticing that now there was a blond girl with them. “How did they know to plan that ahead?”

Zarah smiled, “They didn’t. Let’s go. We have work to do yet.”

Lena nodded and walked with her and their prisoner through the portal to home.

Lena said the words to conjure the vision around herself and Zarah. A future Ghostlands slowly came into focus. Zarah had warned her that her subject today was Vaildor. The timelines were still adjusting to his presence, and the visions may be foggier than usual. While it did take a little longer to focus, when it finally did, this one was clear. The young man stood on an outdoor terrace at an easel. Lena guessed that they were in Tranquillien, and that they were at the boy’s home. He painted the scene of the village as he saw it from where he stood.

“This is the most likely future for him as things are now. With him, things can change very rapidly still. There is another possible future that switches frequently with this one.” Zarah commented as Lena walked closer to study the details of the painting in progress. “This one changes often. Sometimes he’s painting here, sometimes he’s inside or in Silvermoon, but he paints. The subject of his painting changes just as often.”

“What is he doing in the other possible future?”

“You memorized the spells I gave you. Cast the second one. It will take us to his second most likely possibility.”

Lena looked at the painting once more. The young elf meticulously continued adding more details. He was very good. She smiled and cast the spell.

It took longer than usual as the vision faded and a new one replaced it. They were in a room, the walls were an off-white and the cabinets were as well. Again, it seemed quite clear despite the fact it took longer to appear. Vaildor knelt next to a female elf. They both observed a wound on a third elf’s leg. The female was explaining what she was doing as she cleaned and dressed the wound.

Lena scrunched her nose up slightly. She didn’t like the sight of blood much. “He’s a healer?”

“He’s learning.”

“I see. It’s quite a bit different from painting.”

Zarah smiled, “They both require attention to detail. He seems good at that.”

“Can we try another?” Lena asked, looking away from the wounded leg.

Zarah nodded.

Lena wasted no time casting the next spell. The room faded as another vision appeared. This one did seem more muddled as it slowly came into focus. It was as if she were watching something far away, though it was right in front of her. Though things never fully became clear, and the sound was muffled, she knew where it was as she had been here before in a vision. Fairsong Academy.

“I can’t make out the faces, but that looks like him there.” Lena pointed to one of the students.

“That’s him. This is an unlikely possibility, but it still could happen. It is a lot less likely now that he’s moved to the town.”

“So it would have been clearer if we visited before he moved?”

Zarah nodded silently.

“But it’s still not completely eliminated as a possibility.”

“Correct.”

Lena nodded, still concentrating on the foggy vision. It wasn’t going to clear up. “Can we do one more?”

Zarah nodded.

Lena cast the spell. There was no waiting this time. A vision set at a camp in a forest snapped into focus. Zarah took a step back. Lena did as well upon seeing who the campers were. She knew it was him before Zarah told her, not simply by the way Zarah had reacted, but also by the way his head had snapped towards them the moment the vision had appeared. There was little likelihood of it being Hethurin.

Lena glanced at Zarah again, and whispered, “How is he talking to us? It’s supposed to just be a vision.”

Zarah was silent.

“Oh, I see! You’re not even fully trained yet! Zaradormi, my dear, you are slipping. No, wait. I know what’s wrong. You’re in the past. This is Lena, isn’t it. Poor thing didn’t deserve what you led her into. So sorry about that. My condolences about what happened to Renzdormu as well.” Sanimir looked directly at Zarah. “I suggest you leave my family alone. We wouldn’t want any further accidents.” He smiled smugly as he began to cast a spell.

“No!” Zarah exclaimed, but it was too late. The vision disappeared. “I think I almost had it. We could have gotten him, but I suppose it’s for the best. We wouldn’t want to let him run loose for 70 years. It’s much preferable to catch him before that.”

Lena frowned, “The vision was very clear. Is there a high likelihood of it happening?”

“He’s done enough. I won’t let him do more. We need to warn the others of what we’ve seen.”

Lena Higgins nodded. She was glad she would be able to get in more practice before going after the rogue mage, Sanimir. Zarah had stressed how dangerous he was, and Lena wanted to be prepared. The goal was to eventually catch him, but Zarah didn’t think he would just give himself up. Lena didn’t either. He had killed others of the bronze flight. Lena was not going to let that happen to Zarah, but she needed more practice with her chronomancy to be able to catch up with him in the first place.

She let her conjured orb of light fade and darken the room as she cast a spell. Today, they were doing visions of the future. Zarah had chosen the subject, a sin’dorei toddler in the Ghostlands, who was the nephew of Hethurin Fairsong, the mage who’s double in another reality was causing all the trouble. She had learned that Hethurin was also a timewalker when she and Zarah had run into him, and another bronze dragon, while investigating one of the places Sanimir had been. Zarah had chosen the toddler as it was a great likelihood that Lena’s path would never cross with his, other than possibly running into his uncle again, and thus would not cause any disruption of time over knowledge of a future event, which could happen if Lena went to her own future, or to that of those she knew. This was safe. Babies were picked because it was fun to see where they could wind up. Because he was a sin’dorei baby, Zarah had suggested going seventy years ahead. Many young sin’dorei spent decades in general education before deciding what they were going to do.

The vision slowly appeared around them. Large, dark shapes of trees surrounded them along with a thick eerie fog. “Is this the Ghostlands?” Lena asked. She had never been there herself. At least, not in this reality.

“Yes. The forest isn’t much different from how it is today. There are more homes, but it hasn’t changed much past that.”

Lena nodded, then frowned slightly, “Did I do the spell wrong? Shouldn’t the boy be here?”

“Young man.” Zarah corrected as she looked up. “He’s here.”

Lena followed Zarah’s gaze up into the tree that branched out over them. She smiled upon spotting him. Her spell had worked. Rylad was just a few branches up above where they stood. The young elf had climbed out on one of the old tree’s limbs, and sat in a spot where the branch split with his feet dangling, as natural as if he was sitting in a chair. He looked a bit like his uncle. Lena recalled he has the same straight, dark red hair. Rylad’s was long and pulled back into a messy ponytail. A few strands hung loose. He had a bow, and wore similar armor to what Lena had seen other elven rangers wear. Behind him, on the same limb, a large, spotted, yellow cat lay, seemingly half asleep.

“This is the most likely future for him. His mother is a ranger. His father was a ranger. His probable step-father is, also, a ranger. He’s growing up around people he idolizes, and he wants to be like them.”

Lena smiled, “It seems he’s very ha–” She jumped as the boy nimbly hopped out of the tree, landing just a few feet in front of her. He didn’t know he was being watched, of course, so she could hardly blame him for startling her. It was just a vision, and Lena and Zarah weren’t actually there. He called up to his cat to follow him.

Zarah smiled back at Lena as the cat jumped down to follow its master, “He is happy, in this future.”

“I suppose there’s other possibilities.”

“There are.” Zarah replied as they walked to follow the young elf. He moved quickly ahead of them, his cat following not far behind.

It wasn’t long before they came to a clearing with a building. Rylad’s cat ran ahead, tackling another cat that laid on the grass. An older, blond elf came out of the building, “Rylad, where have you been? Your mother has been worried about you.”

“Sorry, Ann’da. I lost track of time. I was watching the one spot near the scar.”

The older elf nodded as Rylad joined him and went inside.

Lena turned to Zarah. “What is he watching for at the scar?”

“Scourge activity.” Zarah answered, “Even this far in the future there are small pockets of activity here.”

“You said this was the most likely future for him. Can we see some others?” Lena asked. It would be good practice to switch realities while in the future. Though she had already been to some other realities, it had always been with the use of portal dust left behind by the mage’s portals. While this future was merely within a vision, the principles behind the spell were the same.

Zarah smiled, “Of course. You went over the notes I gave you, right?”

Lena nodded, “I have them memorized.”

“Then let’s see some of the other possibilities.”

Lena cast the spell. The vision faded out around them as another faded in. They were inside now. It took Lena a moment to recognize the building. The one time that she had seen it from the inside, it had been in poor repair, and in another reality. Here, it was pristine, but the same banister on the staircase jogged her memory. The way the railing merged with the slats, and the circling of the vine carving around both reminded her. This was Fairsong Academy.

She could hear voices in the room across the hallway. She and Zarah walked past the stairs, and looked across to the other room. “That’s just Hethurin, right? Not Sanimir.”

Zarah nodded silently.

Lena walked in closer to see the class. Hethurin was teaching arcane theory to a class of seven students. She recognized the boy from the previous vision sitting in front, listening attentively. She smiled as she watched the girl sitting next to him pass him a note under the table. Her bright orange curls fell forward as she looked down to continue taking notes. Rylad opened his note under the table before picking up his book and holding it at an angle before sliding the paper up in front of his actual notes. He circled something. Lena couldn’t tell what was written as it was in Thalassian. While she did speak it a little, she couldn’t read it. Rylad passed the note back under the table.

Lena looked back at Zarah, “He’s a mage student in this one. Is he any good?”

“He’s likely good enough to become a timewalker like his uncle, if he takes this path, and if he can keep his mind on his studies.” Zarah paused to look at the girl sitting next to Rylad before continuing, “Let’s see one more before finishing for the day.”

Lena smiled, “Okay.” She cast the spell, watching as the room faded, and another room appeared. The young elf stood at a workbench, sanding some pieces of wood that looked like they were meant to be chair legs. A much older elf sat on a stool at another nearby workbench. He also worked on chair parts. Lena raised a brow, “He’s making chairs?”

“Yes. This is another possibility. His grandfather is a carpenter.” Zarah nodded at the older man as she mentioned him, “Rylad decided to become his apprentice in this timeline.”

Lena peeked out the window long enough to know they were in Silvermoon, “So he doesn’t stay in the Ghostlands?”

“In this reality, no. Other things influenced his decision to come here. He had little to keep him in the Ghostlands.”

“Oh.” Lena waited for further explanation, but Zarah offered none. She watched the young elf for a moment as he worked on his chair legs, wondering what could have happened to make him feel there was little to stay for when he had been so happy in the first vision.